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Hemp, Inc. on What’s Next in 2017 for the Industrial Hemp Industry

SPRING HOPE, NC–(Marketwired – Jan 4, 2017) – As festive gatherings and yuletide celebrations come to an end, Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) executives are looking forward to 2017, especially since there were transformative strides made within the industrial hemp industry in 2016. And what better way for the industrial hemp industry to ring in the New Year than with Rhode Island’s “Hemp Growth Act”? The “game changing” Act went into effect on January 1, 2017. Laws governing industrial hemp have now evolved in a total of 33 states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia).

Rhode Island’s Hemp Growth Act, which took effect January 1, 2017, was originally written so that members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe could grow hemp. However, lawmakers later broadened the language to allow any licensed grower. Under the “Hemp Growth Act” individuals will be allowed to obtain a state license to cultivate hemp for things such as clothing, food or other commercial products. With the newly implemented Act, hemp is now treated as “an agricultural product that may be legally produced, possessed, distributed and commercially traded. The Department of Business Regulation will be responsible for establishing rules and regulations for the licensing and regulation of hemp growers and processors. The Department is also authorized to certify any higher educational institution in Rhode Island to grow or handle or assist in growing or handling industrial hemp for the purpose of agricultural or academic research.” (Source: normal.org)